Took my levain out of the fridge, fed it and left it at room temp for 11 hours. Smelled fresh, with just a whiff of alcohol, so I thought it was good to go. Took out 167g of levain, mixed it with the other ingredients and about 6g of salt, kneaded and left to proof.

After 7 hours, this is all the (alleged) proof I got (rubber band is where it started):

Can you tell what I did wrong based on what I've mentioned so far? Should I be more patient? Instinctively, I'm wondering if a bit more water in the dough might make the proofing easier for the levain.

.... so it's 50:50 water:organic dark rye. It started out reasonably stiff, but loosened up to "marshmallow fluff" consistency as it aged. Also, the smell went from "ham-like" during the first 2-3 days, to a fresher, alcohol smell by day 7. Here's a full breakdown of the ingredients to give a final baker's percentage formula (PDF).

Also, most of my doughs tend to be in the neighbourhood of 70% hydration, so I'm used to a reasonably soft dough to handle. This was a bit denser than I thought it might be at 71.4% overall (a bit stiffer, in fact, than my 70% hydration rye straight doughs), but if the rye soaks up a lot, I shouldn't be entirely surprised.

that's a lot of rye for the wheat flour to support, even if you're using first clear. you might try a 2-stage ferment to give the wild yeast time to propagate and then spike the dough with 1/4% to 1/2% instant yeast to help the rise. if you've fermented the sours properly, the yeast shouldn't affect the taste.

another point: since most levains aren't specifically sour, you may not have enough acid in the dough to inhibit the yeast, which could result in very fast fermentation (since rye's predominantly polysaccharides composition is like yeast steroids) and subsequent collapse.

...but this is my first time using a sourdough/levain, so I want to be sure I'm doing this right.

that's a lot of rye for the wheat flour to support, even if you're using first clear. you might try a 2-stage ferment to give the wild yeast time to propagate and then spike the dough with 1/4% to 1/2% instant yeast to help the rise. if you've fermented the sours properly, the yeast shouldn't affect the taste.

In this respect, would it be something like take some of my "base" levain, feed the bit I've taken out (50-50 ratio as usual), let it ferment a bit more, than feed it one more time and let it ferment before adding the rest of the ingredients (including a bit of yeast)? Or should I introduce some AP into the feeds of the "production sourdough" as some call it?

another point: since most levains aren't specifically sour, you may not have enough acid in the dough to inhibit the yeast, which could result in very fast fermentation (since rye's predominantly polysaccharides composition is like yeast steroids) and subsequent collapse.

Since I've seen zero rise in the dough, and only modest, but consistent, rising in the levain between feedings, I'm guessing that's not the case.

In order to assign the flour and H2O seperately for computing the hydration level, the levain is stated as total (zero weight - due to no column 1,2,or 3 entry) just the flour and water parts are calculated.

But no, I fear I'd bet on a starter that is not presently active. Based upon what you said, my money would be on saying it isn't working.

=== Note the last 2 coluns have errors (now fix, but not in this image).

so you can bake it. Sprinkle two teaspoons of instant yeast on the flattened out dough and mist it a little with water. Wet your hands to roll it up and work it in. (keep wetting your hands) Don't over work the dough. Then shape it, smooth out the surface and get it into the oven in 30 minutes to an hour. You can gently poke it with wet fingers to determine if the dough is trapping gas. If it feels too firm and solid, give it a little bit more time before baking.

With your starter, try using only 10g or a rounded teaspoon and feeding 50g each water and flour. Do this for 3 consecutive 12 hour feedings, keeping only a teaspoon. Then try again in a loaf. I hope this will beef up your yeasties. If the pH goes to low in the starter, yeast numbers will fall off. The starter smelling of alcohol is an indication that pH is low and it's hungry, if this is happening within 4 hours of feeding, then the starter needs a higher ratio of starter to flour. Especially if it can't raise dough. :)

considering that (a) your bread is 53/47 rye/wheat and (b) you used AP, which simply doesn't have enough protein to support that much rye (even using high-gluten flours, most commercial flour mills recommend no more than about 40% rye).

Seriously, use first clear flour or a high-gluten flour like Sir Lancelot or All Trumps next time you bake a hybrid rye bread. The additional gluten will make a world of difference in opening up the crumb.

My 15% sourdough rye that I make from Hamelman's recipe gets no real rise when I make the preferment. Its at around 66% hydration so its a biga-type, and all it does is get a little... 'airy' when the pre-ferment is done. Using just 15% total rye to 85% AP or High gluten makes a very lovely bread IMO. I add around 1% fresh yeast to the recipe and give it a little extra proofing time and also an autolyse, as Hamelman's procedure is a little different.

I autolyse with the biga flour and water, then 30 minutes later I mix the dough. After 30 minutes I give it one stretch and fold and after another 30 minutes I preshape the dough. After a 30 minute rest I final shape and let proof for 30-60 minutes before baking at 460 degrees with plenty of steam. I get incredible grigne on it! and a nice crumb. Good luck

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